What do you think? Is this a case of the dreaded ‘Freed on a technicality’? Were they justified in shooting into the crowd because they thought they were being shot at? (People trapped by flood waters apparently fired into the air to attract attention and rescue.) Was Justice served?
I’m not an expert on The Crescent City. I’ve been several times since the early’-90s though, so I’ve heard things. New Orleans has a reputation for police corruption. An old joke is ‘New Orleans: Murder Capital of the United States. And that’s just the cops!’ Of course the crown I hang out with there comprises artists and musicians; not the convention and holiday types. My last trip there the house had recently been raided twice by the SWAT team. The first time was to look for a housemate that had been evicted for being a crackhead. The second time they were just being pricks.
So I wouldn’t put it past TPTB to have deliberately thrown the case. OTOH I’ve hear no evidence that that happened and I’m just being cynical.